UN nuclear watchdog chief details numerous incidents of shelling at facility IAeA director-general Rafael Grossi at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station. Courtesy IAEA. Interim measures are urgently needed to prevent a nuclear accident arising from military damage to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in Ukraine by the “immediate establishment” of a nuclear safety and security protection zone, International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Rafael Grossi has said.

In a report on the nuclear safety, security and safeguards situation in Ukraine, Grossi said the IAEA is ready to start immediately the consultations leading to the urgent establishment of such a zone at Zaporizhzhia.

The zone is needed “pending the end of the conflict and re-establishment of stable conditions” at the six-unit facility, the largest in Europe, he said.

In his report, which follows an IAEA mission to the plant last week, Grossi called for shelling on site and in the vicinity of the nuclear station to be stopped immediately to avoid any further damage to the plant and its facilities, for the safety of the operating staff and to maintain the physical integrity to support safe and secure operation.

“This requires agreement by all relevant parties to the establishment of a nuclear safety and security protection zone around the ZNPP,” he said.

Situation At Zaporizhzhia ‘Unprecedented’

The report, which details numerous instances of shelling at the facility, says the situation in Ukraine is unprecedented. It is the first time a military conflict has occurred amid the facilities of a large, established nuclear power programme.

Vitally, the IAEA has established a presence at Zaporizhzhia which will be of paramount importance in helping to stabilise the situation, Grossi said. This should also enable the IAEA to monitor closely the situation at the site, and to receive direct, “fast and reliable information”.

At Zaporizhzhia, IAEA experts will carry out “detailed and continuous work” to assess the physical damage to the plant’s facilities, determine the functionality of the main and backup safety and security systems, and evaluate the staff’s working conditions, in addition to performing safeguards activities on the site.

Grossi said the IAEA was is still “gravely concerned” about the situation at the Zaporizhzhia. The agency’s ‘seven pillars’ of nuclear security and safety have all been compromised at the site. The pillars include the physical integrity of reactors, offsite power and the functioning of all safety and security systems at all times.